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Utopia (album)
|Producers = Björk Arca Rabit |MiX = |Last album = Vulnicura Strings (Vulnicura: The Acoustic Version – Strings, Voice and Viola Organista Only) |This album = Utopia |Next album = |Artist = Björk }}Utopia is the tenth studio album by Björk. It is a colloborative effort between Björk and long-time collaborator, Arca. The album was released on November 24, 2017. Background and release Björk began working on Utopia soon after releasing Vulnicura in 2015. Upon winning the award for International Female Solo Artist at the 2016 Brit Awards, Björk did not appear as she was busy recording her new album."Bjork Wins International Female Solo Artist At Brit Awards: This Is The 'Best Title Ever'" Hollywoodlife.com. 24 February 2016.Björk wins International Female Solo Artist | The BRIT Awards 2016 In an interview published in March 2016, Björk likened the writing to "paradise" as opposed to Vulnicura being "hell... like divorce.""The Full Interview: Björk and Julia Davis". Anothermag.com. 7 March 2016 Speaking to Fader in March 2017, filmmaker and collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang said that he had been involved with Björk on her new album, stating that "quite a bit of it" had already been written, and that the "new album's gonna be really future-facing, in a hopeful way that I think is needed right now.""Perfume Genius's "Slip Away" Video Is A Camp Masterpiece". Thefader.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017. The album was announced via social media on 2 August 2017 with a handwritten note by Björk.Björk (2 August 2017). "I am excited to share with you that my new album is coming out very soon". Instagram The announcement coincided with Dazed's autumn 2017 cover issue with Björk which included the announcement of few song titles."Björk: utopia now". Dazed (5 September 2017) The lead single, "The Gate" was announced on 12 September for a digital release the following week but received a surprise midnight release on 15 September. The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album's title, Utopia, during an interview with Nowness, statingNowness interview (15 September 2017): I have had thousand name suggestions and I think it’s gonna be called ‘Utopia’. I can’t think of anything better! If I change my mind five minutes before the album cover goes into print, that might happen. I kind of like the fact that it’s a cliché, that word … it has a fascistic, ‘I want the world to be like this!’ feeling about it, because it’s a proposal (of) how we can live with nature and technology in the most optimistic way possible. We have Trump, we have Brexit, we have our issues in Iceland, we have our environmental issues. I think if there ever was urgency or necessity to come up with another utopian model, how we’re gonna live our lives, I think it’s now. And this is my proposal, mine and Alejandro’s Arca. In an interview with Icelandic website Grapevine, she further said that the album not only consists of happy songs, otherwise she would have called it ‘Paradise’: If it were just happy songs, I would have called the album ‘Paradise’ or something. Yes, there are moments that are very euphoric and happy, but then there is also—like in all sci-fi films and stories that humans have made about the perfect place—that moment when two thirds into the story, the tail of a dinosaur knocks on your door and you have to deal with it."The Utopian: Björk On Loss, Moving On, Activism & Seeking Change". 7 December 2017 To create the album, Björk was inspired by Peach Blossom Spring, a Chinese tale of an isolated, idyllic community where people live in harmony with nature. And you escape to an island, and there’s a lot of women there with children, and everybody’s playing flutes, and everybody’s naked, and there’s all these plants you’ve never seen before and all these birds you’ve never heard before, and orchids, and it has that feeling of pioneering into a new world. On 16 August 2019, nearly 2 years after the album was released, Björk announced the Utopia Bird Call Boxset as a way to celebrate the end of the Utopia era, a collection featuring 14 hand-carved wooden flutes that imitate various bird calls. Björk personally selected each type of flute, working with a French company called Quelle Est Belle, and the set comes with a booklet detailing how to use each flute and which bird it imitates. In addition to the flutes, the box set comes with a custom-made USB stick that features the music of Utopia, the Utopia music videos and remixes, and an exclusive unreleased instrumental track called, "Arpegggio". In a statement, Björk explained, "Utopia is so much about birdsong and sonically (sic) the mutation between synth/bird , bird/flute , flute/synth ... so i got very excited when i found these handmade wooden flutes imitating precisely particular birds."Björk (16 August 2019). "utopia is so much about birdsong and sonically the mutation between synth/bird , bird/flute , flute/synth...". Instagram The set is valued at £500 and was released on 1 November 2019. Album cover On the album's over, Björk is portrayed as amphibian-esque creature. She has throat holes mimicking that of a flute, which were featured heavily on the album. A prosthetic silicone face piece that resembles a vulva and labia in a heart shape, signifying the theme of love and sexuality on the album. A fetal bird nestled at her neck is there for the bird samples throughout the album. Overall, the image reflects the forward thinking, science fiction, utopian aspects of the music contained therein. Jesse Kanda was part of the creative direction, cover art and photography, James Merry for the facepiece, and Hungry for the make-up. Kanda said on the album cover:WeTransfer Presents Work In Progress: Björk and Jesse Kanda (27 March 2018) Depending on when you look at it, it can be ugly. And that’s the point, that’s what I’m trying to do. Like, making something painful, but transmuting it into something beautiful. Bjork-2017-jesse-kanda-02-utopia.jpg|Photoshoot outtake Bjork-2017-jesse-kanda-03-utopia.jpg|Photoshoot outtake Singles TheGate.jpg|"The Gate" (2017)|link=The Gate (song) BlissingMe.jpg|"Blissing Me" (2017)|link=Blissing Me (song) ArisenMySenses.jpeg|"Arisen My Senses" (2018)|link=Arisen My Senses (song) Track listing All tracks except "Features Creatures" and "Paradisia" have Arca as a featured artist. All lyrics by Björk. Utopia Bird Call Boxset USB edition Outtakes Björk mentioned a track called "Allow" on her 2017 Dazed interview, but she wasn't sure if she would include it on the album. Björk brings a new track up on her laptop, “Allow”. It’s one of the most straightforward, melodic songs that she’s played so far, though she isn’t sure if she’ll include it on the final record. The song illustrates the way that her relationship with Ghersi has developed over time. “We had a lot of holidays together,” she says. “(A group of us) got Airbnbs in the Caribbean. We’d walk in the jungles, recording birds. The lyrics are very much like that. Just us, swimming in the ocean for days. On day nine, that song just happened.” References Category:Albums Category:Studio albums Category:Utopia